Care and Fair

CARE & FAIR is a worldwide industry initiative of the European rug and carpet trade offering voluntary membership based on moral responsibility and commitment. Established in 1994, today it has around 320 members worldwide, whose collective contributions support 9 schools, 6 adult education centres and 3 daycare clinics in both India and Pakistan.
Linie Design became members in 2008 and since then we have joined the fight to eliminate illegal child labour and help improve the living conditions of carpet knotters and their families in India and Pakistan.

Linie Design School
Ensuring regular education for the weavers’ children is another very rewarding initiative that we are pleased to be involved in. Since the middle of 2008, we have fully sponsored one of the Care & Fair schools – thereby named Linie Design School.
Located in the small village of Chaksikhari, the Linie Design School enables over 340 Indian children to go to school every day. By paying all the running costs, we ensure the local community has a regular education, which can give the next generation a safer future with more choices.

CARE & FAIR
As members of CARE & FAIR, we agree to production and purchasing demands laid down by the organisation to ensure all our rugs are made in a socially responsible way, thereby protecting the weavers, their children and the surrounding community. These conditions include:

No use of child labour
No bonded labour
Decent working conditions
Adhering to local regulations and employment laws
Employees’ children must have opportunity for regular schooling
Provision of basic medical care for workers and their families
Workers receive at least minimum wages in their respective country

Woman Empowerment Programme
An important part of CARE & FAIR’s efforts to support local communities and the vulnerable people in them is the Women Empowerment Programmes that have been launched in several villages. Many women are uneducated and unable to read or write, which makes it hard for them to make a living and improve their situation.

The Women Empowerment Programme gives mothers and older sisters of schoolchildren in some of the CARE & FAIR schools (including Linie Design School) the opportunity to acquire basic knowledge in reading, maths and writing. Furthermore, they are taught sewing and hand stitching skills that enable them to make products for selling in the market or using them for their own families. Linie Design is pleased and proud to be a part of this invaluable programme that has such a positive impact on the lives of women in India and Pakistan.